King Alfonso VI of León and Castile captured Toledo from Muslim rule in 1085, marking a major turning point in the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula. The city had been an important center of Islamic learning and culture, and its conquest brought substantial Arabic libraries and scholarly traditions under Christian control, initiating a period of intense cultural exchange.

Toledo became a major translation center where Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek texts were rendered into Latin and vernacular Romance languages, transmitting classical and Islamic knowledge to Christian Europe. This translation movement influenced the development of Spanish literature, introducing new poetic forms, philosophical concepts, and scientific vocabulary. The multilingual environment fostered hybrid literary cultures, evident in the muwashshahat and zajal poetry that blended Arabic and Romance elements.